Roses and thorns 8/21/11

August 20, 2011 11:24:00 PM

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Roses to fifth-graders at Sale Elementary International Studies Magnet School, for volunteering their time to help the people of Somalia. The students partnered with Kathy Cadden, founder of Operation Ukraine, to assemble 200 hygiene kits complete with toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and towels, to famine-stricken North Somalia.

According to the United Nations, more than 3.2 million people in Somalia -- half the country''s population -- are in need of help.

A thorn to the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors for not developing an ordinance, hiring an animal-control officer or taking other steps to get a handle on the county''s problem with vicious dogs. Two children were mauled by pit bulls last weekend, the latest is a series of dog attacks in the county over the past years. A sheriff''s deputy had to shoot one of the dogs.

Last year, a group of pit bulls was terrorizing local farms attacking livestock, killing and injuring goats and calves. As they have in the latest incident, supervisors said they would research a vicious-animal ordinance with plans to enact one of their own. It''s time to stop putting it off. Because the supervisors keep dragging their feet on the issue, even though the loose dogs sent two children to the hospital, the sheriff''s department can''t even charge the owners of the pit bulls with a crime. Since there''s no ordinance, they haven''t committed one.

A rose to Cody Daniels, who took time out of his day recently to drive an Ethelsville, Ala. woman home on his lunch break. Her car had died at Sunflower grocery store on Highway 182. Several other community members also made sure Helen Danner was OK. Danner wrote a letter to The Dispatch "to thank everyone."

"Columbus does have some great people," she wrote.

A rose of appreciation to the late Theodoric C. James Jr. and a rose of sympathy to his family: brother, Tyrone V. James Sr.; sister-in-law, Avee James; niece, Tyra James; and nephews "T.S." James and "Lil'' Ty" James.

Theodoric James, known as "Sonny" to his family and friends, left Columbus in 1959 and became an archivist for the White House, where he served nearly half a century under the administrations of 10 presidents. James, 71, passed away at his home in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 1 and was buried in Columbus Aug. 12 at Union Cemetery.

We wonder who else with roots in The Golden Triangle area might be out there living a remarkable life, unbeknownst to the majority of their hometown.